Tossing Salt Presents:
AEW Double or Nothing 2023
Thoughts & Predictions
May 28, 2023
DougMaynard.com

Tonight, on pay-per-view, coming from Sin City USA, aka Las Vegas, it’s AEW and Double or Nothing. Are you ready for a few predictions? I’ve got the crystal ball and Magic 8-Ball ready. Let’s do this.

AEW World Title: MJF vs. Darby Allin vs. Jungle Boy Jack Perry vs Sammy Guevara

This match started with such high hopes and good intentions, but as the build continued each week, my interest died more and more. Jungle Boy has lost any momentum he might have had and in my opinion, doesn’t belong anywhere near the main event, and I was a fan. He’s been overexposed now and it’s not a good look for him. Darby still looks like a contender and Sammy is, well he’s Sammy. I’m a fan of Sammy for the most part, but the build for this match has done him no favors either. And MJF? He’s a great talker, but his value decreases every day in AEW. Let’s hope that once this is over, he can get into a good feud with someone who actually can work and have good matches and build MJF’s stock back up. sighs The only one who has a chance here besides Max would be Darby. I don’t see a title switch as Max will cheat and win.

Winner and STILL AEW World Champion: MJF

AEW TNT Championship: Wardlow vs. Christian Cage

This is a ladder match if I recall correctly. As much as I like Christian, there is no way in hell that he should win here. Wardlow has lost all of his momentum due to bad booking and needs to get it back. Christian is the perfect person to work with to do just that. So look for a squash as Wardlow takes on Captain Charisma and deflates his ego a bit with a powerbomb symphony from hell before climbing that ladder to retain his title. And then we should see Luchasaurus get involved with an attack after the match to set up Wardlow’s next feud. And there you go with Booking 101.

Winner and STILL AEW TNT Champion: Wardlow

AEW Women’s World Title: Jamie Hayter vs. Toni Storm

I doubt we’ll get this match. Hayter has some legit injuries and shouldn’t be able to compete so we’ll probably get a new opponent named for Storm and the winner gets an Interim Championship until Hayter gets medically cleared to wrestle. Isn’t that how AEW works? Or they just the injured champion come in and get squashed, aka Punk & Moxley. Medical issues are not a big deal, right? Not for AEW anyhow. If the match happens, Storm wins. And if it’s a surprise opponent, Storm still wins.

Winner and NEW AEW Women’s Champion: Toni Storm

AEW TBS Championship: Jade Cargill vs. Taya Valkyrie

Jade has an impressive undefeated streak going on, but who has she wrestled and defeated? Valkyrie is here and she should be able to take Jade to the next level and make her look like a worthy champion for a change. I’d like to see Valkyrie win, but with the investment and time that AEW has spent on Jade, I don’t see a loss here in their first PPV match. Look for Jade to retain.

Winner and STILL TBS Champion: Jade Cargill

AEW World Tag Team Title: FTR vs. Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal with Mark Briscoe as the special referee.

This will probably be the best match of the night as everyone involved can work and tell a story in that ring, unlike most of the other matches. The story with Mark Briscoe either being smart and playing dumb to Jarrett and Lethal’s manipulations or just being dumb kind of takes away from the match far more than it adds and I hate seeing Briscoe booked this way. Just let the man damn wrestle. I don’t see any title changes happening here, but with Tony Khan booking, anything could happen and in this case, that’s not necessarily a good thing. I think (hope) the Champions retain.

Winners and STILL AEW Tag Team Champions: FTR

AEW International Title Battle Royal

Against all odds and every wrestler in the company, the comedy wrestler will win. Why? Because he will. That’s why.

Winner and STILL AEW International Champion: Orange Cassidy

Chris Jericho vs Adam Cole- Non-Sanctioned Match

So we’ll have the Jericho Appreciation Society walking around at ringside and Sabu there, tweeting out offensive slurs and getting involved as well. I’m sure we’ll see Dr. Britt Baker and Anna Jay & Tay all do the catfighting stuff and chaos will ensue. Will Roderick Strong turn on Cole and join the J.A.S.? It could happen. Will Sabu trip on some barbed wire and break a hip? That could happen as well. No matter what happens, Adam Cole should win. He’s the one making the comeback and needs it far more than Jericho ever will. So with that in mind, welcome to AEW.

Winner: Chris Jericho

Anarchy in the Arena: The Blackpool Combat Club vs. The Elite.

This one will be either really, really good or suck canal water. Given who’s involved, we know there will be lots of dumb spots that make no sense and even more blood than Sunday night dinner at Dracula’s house. Yeah, it’ll be crazy. Wouldn’t it be nice to see one of the fights go into a locker room and have Page or Omega “knocked out” by an unseen person throwing a chair and then all you hear is the bark of a dog? Build suspension and speculation for Collision and upcoming shows hinting around at him who should not be named, except by Uncle Dave? Okay, that’s just my idea, but back to reality. Craziness, lots of plunder, and dare I say it, anarchy. And the BBC, I mean BCC win. And there you go.

Winners: The Blackpool Combat Club

House of Black Open Challenge

Who will accept the challenge and fight the House of Black for the Trios Championship? Common sense says The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn. The Embassy, who are the ROH Six Man Tag Team Champions is a good possibility as well. I’d love to see it be Dalton Castle and The Boys. But truthfully, it doesn’t matter who the challengers are. The House of Black wins and retains its titles.

Winners and STILL AEW Trios Champions: The House of Black

The Hardys & Hook vs. Ethan Page and The Gunns

If the Hook & Hardy Connection win, then Ethan Page is free from the control of Stokley Hathaway. When was the last time that Hook was even on TV? He was so hot and now? Maybe being part of Team Hardy will jumpstart his momentum again. And Page too. He’s entertaining as hell, but he needs a major change. This is the opportunity. Maybe after the dust settles, we can get the Page, Hook, and The Gunns all back to where they should be and out of this mess. Hook & The Hardys win.

Winners: The Hardys and Hook

And there you go. Damn, this is a packed card with probably everyone on the roster being given a spot. It’s going to be long. And those are my predictions. Am I right? Am I wrong? Am I ready for bed? Yes to two of those. You figure out which ones. Thoughts, comments, and any questions are welcome and appreciated. Let me know who you think will be getting their arms raised and who will be drowning their sorrows on X-Box later in the evening in the comments. I want to know. And with that, let’s wrap things up. Take care and be well, my friends. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you at the matches.

Ubuntu!